Lawmakers review laundry list of building maintenance projects

Lawmakers raised questions about a long list of building maintenance

projects Friday, with Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio asking how many can be postponed to save money.

Altogether, 11 of the 15 repair, remodel and maintenance projects on the list are in Carson City -- including demolition of the old city fire station at Musser and Curry streets.

"That may be one we don't have to do this time," Raggio said.

Public Works Manager Dan O'Brien said the space is needed to create more parking for the Attorney General's Office staff, which has now moved into the old Carson courthouse next to the fire station.

Raggio said $348,934 is a lot of money to create 16 more parking spaces -- especially in a year when funding is tight. And he said it doesn't make sense to use bond money for something like that because bond payments amount to triple the original funding by the time they're paid.

He also asked whether three heating system upgrades at Stewart could be combined into one project. Two of those projects -- at $153,958 apiece -- are in the same structures: buildings Nos. 6 and 107. The third is for buildings 12 and 13 at the complex along Carson City's southern border.

The Carson City projects on the list total more than $6.2 million over the next two years. The largest is $2.7 million to complete the remodeling of Building 17 at Stewart. That building will house the Department of Corrections when completed. The first half of the project was done over the past two years.

All the Stewart projects depend in part on a $511,364 project to upgrade the electric power distribution system there.

One project that didn't raise objections is $443,236 to for seismic work on the Capitol Annex. The Capitol was rebuilt in the late 1970s with a concrete inner shell to protect its limestone exterior from earthquake damage. But the annex behind the Capitol never received the same treatment.

The project is designed to install seismic upgrades in the annex in case of a strong quake.

Along with the seismic work is a $560,506 project to upgrade heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems in the Capitol and annex.

State Printing will also get new heating and air systems to replace a 20- year-old system O'Brien described as worn out.

And there are heating system upgrades in four other buildings at Stewart totaling more than $793,000.

In addition, the list has the biennial statewide maintenance and upgrade programs. That includes $3.5 million to ensure roofs of state buildings are maintained, $1.1 million in upgrades to make state facilities more accessible to the disabled and $3.5 million for a program to handle fire and life safety issues.

The committee took no action on the list, but Raggio asked O'Brien and Buildings and Grounds Administrator Mike Meizel to prioritize the projects and see if any of them can be put off for two years without causing dangers or greatly increasing costs.